Portable electronic devices that have multimedia capability have become more popular in recent times. Many such devices include audio and video recording functionality that allow them to operate as handheld, portable audio-video (AV) systems. Examples of portable electronic devices that have such capability include, for example, digital wireless cellular phones and other types of wireless communication devices, personal digital assistants, digital cameras, video recorders, etc.
Some portable electronic devices include one or more microphones that can be used to acquire audio information from an operator of the device and/or from a subject that is being recorded. In some cases, two or more microphones are provided on different sides of the device with one microphone positioned for recording the subject and the other microphone positioned for recording the operator. However, because the operator is usually closer than the subject to the device's microphone(s), the audio level of an audio input received from the operator will often exceed the audio level of the subject that is being recorded. As a result, the operator will often be recorded at a much higher audio level than the subject unless the operator self-adjusts his volume (e.g., speaks very quietly to avoid overpowering the audio level of the subject). This problem can exacerbated in devices using omnidirectional microphone capsules.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved electronic devices having the capability to acquire audio information from more than one source (e.g., subject and operator) that can be located on different sides of the device. It is also desirable to provide methods and systems within such devices for balancing the audio levels of both sources at appropriate audio levels regardless of their distances from the device. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.